Newport Mercury

March 7

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy (March 7, 1774).

“THE first number of the ROYAL AMERICAN MAGAZINE is come to hand.”

It took time to distribute copies of Isaiah Thomas’s new Royal American Magazine to subscribers beyond Boston.  For months, the industrious printer advertised the project in newspapers from New Hampshire to Maryland, calling on prospective subscribers to add their names to the roster and prospective contributors to forward their “LUCUBRATIONS” to include among its contents.  Misfortune delayed publication of the first issue.  Thomas finally announced that the January 1774 issue was available on February 7.  It was not the inaugural issue alone that fell behind schedule.  A month later, Thomas informed subscribers that “NUMBER II. Of THE ROYAL American Magazine” was “THIS DAY PUBLISHED” and sold at his printing office and “by the Printers and Booksellers in America.”

Newport Mercury (March 7, 1774).

The same day that notice ran in the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy, the Newport Mercury carried a short advertisement about the previous issue: “THE first number of the ROYAL AMERICAN MAGAZINE is come to hand; all those persons who subscribed with the printer hereof for it, and have not had theirs, are desired to send for the same.”  It was the first time that an advertisement for the magazine appeared in a newspaper outside of Massachusetts since Thomas took the Royal American Magazine to press.  He advertised widely in Boston’s newspapers and the Essex Journal, a newspaper he operated in partnership with Henry-Walter Tinges in Newburyport, but not elsewhere.  Solomon Southwick, the printer of the Newport Mercury, became the first of Thomas’s associates to mention the magazine in the public prints after publication commenced.

Subscribers in Boston may have expected to receive the January issue sometime in January and the February issue sometime in February, but subscribers who lived at any distance had no such expectation.  Southwick’s notice suggests that some subscribers likely received the January issue sometime in February, but others did not get their hands on it until March.  Given the logistics of shipping books, pamphlets, newspapers, and magazines to other cities and towns, subscribers in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and other colonies understood they would experience some delay in receiving their copies of the Royal American Magazine.  Subscribers in many places eventually had access to the same content as their counterparts in Boston, but that imagined community of readers consumed the essays and poetry in the new magazine on a staggered schedule.

January 31

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update, Guest Contribution , , , , ,

GUEST CURATOR:  Madeleine Arsenault

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Newport Mercury (January 31, 1774).

“Blue kersey.”

This advertisement offered a shipment from London of “beaver coatings,” fabrics, and blankets. John Bours sold all of these items at a shop that had a golden eagle on the sign. One of the specific items that Bours advertised was kersey, multiple colors of it even. After some research, I found that kersey was a fabric often used in making clothing for enslaved people. Talya Housman, a Ph.D. candidate at Brown University, places kersey with other fabrics in the category of “negro cloth” or “slave cloth.” Not only were these fabrics used to clothe enslaved people, but they were also used as a way “to mark people as enslaved.”

I also learned about slavery in New England.  According to EnCompass: A Digital Sourcebook of Rhode Island History, “Rhode Island did not have the largest absolute number of enslaved people in New England,” but “it had the largest percentage of Africans, nearly all of them enslaved, among its residents.”  In addition, about one half of all the ships in the triangular slave trade came through Rhode Island, making the colony one of the anchors on the American side of transatlantic trade.  Rhode Island and other colonies in New England had more connections to slavery during the era of the American Revolution than I realized before my research.

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ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY:  Carl Robert Keyes

Along with her peers in my Revolutionary America class in Fall 2023, Madeleine was responsible for contributing to both the Adverts 250 Project and the Slavery Adverts 250 Project.  Through those projects, readings, and classroom discussions, we all learned more about the ubiquity of slavery throughout the colonies in the eighteenth century, including in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and other places that most people do not readily associate with slavery.  We examined a history of slavery well known to historians but often forgotten, intentionally overlooked, or stubbornly denied by many people.

In the course of her duties as guest curator for the Slavery Adverts 250 Project this week, Madeleine identified three advertisements about enslaved people that appeared in the January 31, 1774, edition of the Newport Mercury along with Bours’s advertisement.  A notice on the front page offered a “STOUT, healthy Negro” woman for sale.  On the final page, an advertisement seeking to sell a “LIKELY Negro” woman, “who understands all sorts of household work,” ran immediately to the left of Bours’s notice.  Another notice, this one aiming to sell a “VERY likely, hardy NEGRO GIRL, about 15 years old,” or exchange her for a “NEGRO BOY,” appeared at the top of the column that contained Bours’s advertisement.

At first glance, an advertisement for a “FINE assortment of ENGLISH and INDIA GOODS,” including kersey cloth, may not seem to have much to do with slavery in New England.  As she undertook her research, Madeleine made the connections, learning about both textiles used to clothe enslaved people and how the transatlantic slave trade contributed to commerce and consumer culture in Rhode Island before, during, and after the American Revolution.  Bours was not alone in advertising imported goods; John Bell, Samuel Goldthwait, Thomas Green, George Lawton and Robert Lawton, Paul Mumford, and Jonathan Rogers placed similar advertisements.  All of them participated in commercial networks inextricably bound to the transatlantic slave trade.  Eighteenth-century readers knew that was the case.  Advertisements offering enslaved people for sale that appeared alongside notices placed by merchants and shopkeepers served as a very visible reminder.

November 29

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Newport Mercury (November 29, 1773).

“THESE PILLS ARE NOW SOLD BY HUGH GAINE.”

Colonial printers often supplemented the revenues they generated from subscriptions, advertising, and job printing by selling books, stationery, blanks, … and patent medicines.  Hugh Gaine, the printer of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, and James Rivington, the printer of Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer, competed with each other and with apothecaries to sell “KEYSER’s FAMOUS PILLS,” a cure for syphilis and other maladies, in the fall of 1773.  Rivington also supplied William Bradford and Thomas Bradford, the printers of the Pennsylvania Journal, with pills that he imported.  As he perused newspapers printed in Philadelphia, Rivington noticed that Townsend Speakman and Christopher Carter, chemists and druggists in that city, advertised that they sold Keyser’s Pills acquired directly from James Cowper, “Doctor of Physick” and “the only legal proprietor” of that medicine in England.  Rivington sent the Bradfords a letter testifying that he received the pills he forwarded to them directly from the son of the late Keyser, residing in Paris.  The Bradfords promptly published that letter in an advertisement that ran immediately below the one placed by Speakman and Carter.

Rivington was not alone in his efforts to gain as much of the market beyond New York as he could.  Gaine looked to the north, advertising in the Newport Mercury.  His notice appeared at the top of the first column on the first page of the November 29 edition of that newspaper, a place of prominence that likely garnered some attention.  A headline in a larger font than anything else on the page except the title of the newspaper in the masthead also enhanced the visibility of the product that Gaine peddled.  This advertisement replicated the copy of Gaine’s notice in the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury a week earlier, though it did not retain the format.  Gaine’s advertisement in the Newport Mercury lacked a decorative border and the multiple manicules that pointed to each letter in “KEYSER,” though it still featured a representation of a “Seal” at the end of the transcription of the certificate of authenticity sent to Gaine by Keyser’s widow.  Gaine did not list Solomon Southwick, the printer of the Newport Mercury, or any other associates in Newport as local agents who sold Keyser’s Pills on his behalf.  He apparently expected that readers would submit orders to him in New York, an eighteenth-century version of mail order medications.

November 1

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Newport Mercury (November 1, 1773).

“Performing before the EMPEROR of GERMANY, The EMPRESS of RUSSIA and KING of GREAT-BRITAIN.”

“and the D—l.”

Following his visits to New York and Boston and his exhibitions of “HORSEMANSHIP” in those cities in the summer and fall of 1773, Mr. Bates next performed in Newport, Rhode Island.  An advertisement in the November 1 edition of the Newport Mercury repeated much of the copy from newspaper notices and a handbill that Bates distributed while in Boston.  Presumably he provided one of those advertisements to Solomon Southwick’s printing office, perhaps with some manuscript additions concerning the date, location, and other particulars for his performances in Newport.  The November 1 iteration concluded with instructions for “those who had tickets for last Saturday, and did not attend” to see Ichabod Potter to exchange them for new tickets to the next performance.  No advertisement previously appeared in the Newport Mercury, suggesting that Bates used broadsides, handbills, and word of mouth to promote his first performance.

The copy of the Newport Mercury digitized for Readex’s database of America’s Historical Newspapers includes manuscript additions that reveal how at least one resident of Newport felt about Bates and the “MANLY ART” of horsemanship that he presented to audiences in the towns that he visited.  The advertisement listed several monarchs who had viewed Bates’s exhibition, including the “KING of GREAT-BRITAIN, The FRENCH KING, the KINGS of PRUSSIA, PORTUGAL, SWEEDEN, DENMARK, and POLAND, and the Prince of ORANGE.”  Someone, obviously not a fan, wrote “and the D—l” at the end of the list, asserting that Bates also performed for Satan.  The itinerant performer claimed that he “received the greatest APPLAUSE, as can be made manifest by the CERTIFICATES from the several Courts, now in his possession.”  The unknown critic added that Bates had a certificate “also from the High Court of Pandemonium.”  It was not the first time that Bates encountered resistance to the spectacle that he presented.  Just a few weeks earlier, advertisements announced the publication of a pamphlet “entitled, Mr. Bates and his Horses, WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE.  IN which is shewn, with great Brevity, that his Exhibitions in Boston, are impoverishing, disgraceful to human Nature, and downright Breaches of the Sixth Commandment.”  Someone did not appreciate the entertainment that Bates provided or the disruptions his performances caused.  In both Boston and Newport, some colonizers greeted Bates with disdain even as many others flocked to his performances.

June 7

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Supplement to the Newport Mercury (June 7, 1773).

“A general Assortment of English and India GOODS.”

For the third week in a row, Solomon Southwick, the printer of the Newport Mercury, distributed an advertising supplement because he did not have sufficient space to print all the news and notices submitted to his printing office on Queen Street.  As usual, the standard issue consisted of four pages, created by printing two pages on each side of a broadsheet and then folding it in half.  The supplement consisted of only two pages, one on each side of a smaller sheet … but not simply half a sheet of the paper used for printing the standard issue.

Instead, Southwick conserved his paper supply by resorting to an even smaller sheet.  Rather than accommodating three columns, the smaller sheet allowed for only two columns of the same width.  Southwick left it at that for the supplement that accompanied the May 31, 1773, edition.  For the May 24 and June 7 supplements, however, he managed to find room for a few more advertisements by creating a third column that ran perpendicular to the other two columns.  The printer placed shorter advertisements in this narrow column.

That worked well for the two lines that advised “Choice red CEDAR POSTS to sell, by THOMAS TRIPP” or the three lines about “CASH given for clean LINEN RAGES, coarse or fine, at the PRINTING-OFFICE in Newport.”  John Bours, on the other hand, ran a longer advertisement for a “general Assortment of English and India GOODS … at his shop, the sign of the golden eagle.”  To fit it in the narrow column without breaking down the type and setting it again, Southwick merely divided the advertisement in half and placed the two halves next to each other.  He did the same for a similar advertisement placed by George Lawton and Robert Lawton and his own notice about imported writing paper.  That facilitated reconstituting the advertisements when necessary to appear as usual in columns that had not been rotated when space permitted.

Bours’s advertisement did feature a slight variation on the usual practice.  When it ran in the standard issue on June 14, the printer replaced the smaller font for “GOODS” with a larger font to help attract attention.  The smaller font had been necessary to make the advertisement fit in the narrow column, but the notice received new consideration when space permitted.  Such was the exception rather than the rule when printers squeezed advertisements into what would have otherwise been margins.

Colonial printers often published advertising supplements that made such use of the space available to them.  Southwick and his counterparts in other towns devised a means of serving the advertisers who placed notices and the subscribers who read them while simultaneously minimizing the costs of producing and disseminating their newspapers.

May 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Supplement to the Newport Mercury (May 10, 1773).

“A general and good Assortment Of English and India GOODS.”

“Commissioners, to receive the claims against the estate of Mary Malling, deceased.”

“TO BE SOLD … a young NEGRO fellow.”

Advertising accounted for over a third of the content in the May 10, 1773, edition of the Newport Mercury.  Paid notices filled four and a half columns of the twelve columns in the standard issue.  Yet that was not enough space for all of the advertisements submitted to Solomon Southwick’s printing office that week.  Advertising meant revenue, so Southwick opted to print and distribute a supplement that consisted solely of advertisements.

That supplement did not have the same format as the standard issue, something that distinguished it from most other newspaper supplements of the era.  Like other newspapers, the standard issue consisted of four pages created by printing two pages on each side of a broadsheet and then folding it in half.  Most supplements provided two more pages of content, one page on each side of a half sheet.  When printers had enough additional content, they produced four-page supplements on broadsheets of the same size as the standard issue.

Neither happened to be the case for the Supplement to the Newport Mercury, of May 10, 1773.  Southwick resorted to a smaller sheet, one that accommodated only two columns rather than the three columns in the standard issue.  In addition, those columns were not as long as those that ran in the standard issue.  Still, they offered enough space for Southwick to publish nineteen more advertisements, ten on one side and nine on the other.  Most promoted imported goods for sale by merchants and shopkeepers, four concerned settling the estates of deceased colonizers, and two offered enslaved people for sale.  By distributing the supplement, Southwick maintained good relationships with advertisers who expected their notices to appear in the public prints in a timely manner.  Doing so paved the way for generating more revenue through repeat business rather than alienating his current advertisers.

A supplement printed on a smaller sheet raises questions about how many similar supplements Southwick and other printers may have issued that got separated from the standard issues they accompanied and, as a result, have not been preserved by historical societies and research libraries.  How often did Southwick resort to such supplements?  The Supplement to the Newport Mercury, of May 10, 1773 suggests that even more advertising may have circulated in Newport and nearby towns, on sheets the size of handbills rather than newspapers, than extant collections of early American newspapers reveal.

February 22

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Newport Mercury (February 22, 1773).

“Such original pieces and extracts as will afford the most pleasing and useful amusement.”

James Rivington, a prominent printer and bookseller in New York, determined that the city needed another newspaper to supplement the three already published there in 1773.  He envisioned, however, a publication that would circulate far beyond the city and even beyond the colony.  When the first issue appeared on April 22, the masthead bore a lengthy title, Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer; or the Connecticut, New-Jersey, Hudson’s River, and Quebec Weekly Advertiser.  All colonial newspapers were regional rather than local, but Rivington sought to serve several regions simultaneously.

Although he frequently placed advertisements for books, stationery, and other merchandise in newspapers printed in New York, Rivington did not place his first advertisements for his own newspaper in the city.  Instead, his first newspaper notices appeared in the Newport Mercury and the Pennsylvania Chronicle on February 22, 1773.  Over the next several weeks, his advertising campaign expanded to several other newspapers.

Pennsylvania Chronicle (February 22, 1773).

Rivington placed a fairly humble notice in the Newport Mercury, announcing his plan to publish “a WEEKLY GAZETTE, or the CITY and COUNTRY ADVERTISER” that would “contain the best and freshest advices, foreign and domestic, and such original pieces as will afford the most pleasing and useful amusement.”  He listed the prices, promised that “All favours from the inhabitants of Rhode-Island colony, will be gratefully acknowledged,” and identified local agents who collected subscriptions, including the printer of the Newport Mercury.

In comparison, his advertisement in the Pennsylvania Chronicle had a much grander tone.  Rivington proclaimed that he would publish a newspaper “differing materially in its Plan from most now extant” and asserted that he received “Encouragement from the first Personages in this Country” to pursue the endeavor.  Now he needed “public Patronage” or subscribers.  Over the course of six lines, the full title of the newspaper appeared as a headline, followed by the “Plan” that described the purpose and contents of the newspaper.  He pledged to invest “All his humble Labours” and select materials according to “the most perfect Integrity and Candour.”  He concluded by noting that he planned to distribute the first issue “when the Season will permit the several Post-Riders to perform their Stages regularly.”  After all, it did not good for residents of Philadelphia and other towns to subscribe to this newspaper if they would not receive it in a timely fashion.

Compared to the description of “such original pieces and extracts as will afford the most pleasing and useful amusement” that Rivington mentioned in his advertisement in the Newport Mercury, the “Plan” in his notice in the Pennsylvania Chronicle was much more extensive.  His newspaper would include some of the usual content, such as “the most important Events, Foreign and Domestic” and “the Mercantile Interest in Arrivals, Departures and Prices Current, at Home and Abroad.”  In addition, Rivington trumpeted that the “State of Learning shall be constantly reported.”  It seemed as though he intended to publish content that often appeared in magazines imported from London, such as the “best Modern Essays,” “New Inventions in Arts and Sciences, Mechanics and Manufactures, Agriculture and Natural History,” and a “Review of Mew Books … with Extracts from every deserving Performance.”  Rivington took his responsibilities as editor seriously, refusing to publish any “crafty Attempt with cozening Title, from the Garrets of GRUBB-STREET.”  His readers could depend on receiving only content “that may contribute to the Improvement, Information and Entertainment of the Public.”

Although Rivington went into greater detail when addressing readers of the Pennsylvania Chronicle compared to readers of the Newport Mercury, in each instance he sought to entice prospective subscribers with more than just the news, those “freshest advices, foreign and domestic.”  He promised additional content that would amuse as well as inform.  Several newspapers included a poetry corner on the final page, printing a new poem each week.  Rivington proposed giving his subscribers an even greater amount of literary content, delivering items that tended to appear in magazines.  He hoped that would help to distinguish his newspaper from other published in New York and other towns in the colonies.

July 8

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Newport Mercury (July 8, 1772).

“STOP a MURDERER!”

Yesterday I examined instances of advertisements in the Connecticut Courant delivering news to readers.  Notices about burglaries and prisoners who escaped from jails kept communities informed about recent events in their area.  On occasion, advertisements that doubled as news items merited regional coverage through publication in newspapers in several cities and towns.  Such was the case with the “STOP a MURDERER!” advertisements that ran in several newspapers published in New England in June and July 1772.

Elijah Williams, sheriff of Berkshire County in Massachusetts, reported that James Hervey, “a transient person” was suspected of robbing and murdering James Farrel in Stockbridge.  Williams listed the items that Hervey stole and might wear or attempt to sell, including “one pair of large silver shoe-buckles, marked I.F.”  The sheriff also provided a description of Hervey, “about six feet high, about 24 years old, very meanly clothed, of a fair complexion, very light coloured hair, supposed to be an Englishman.”  Williams enlisted the aid of the public in apprehending Hervey, offering a reward to whoever captured him and delivered him to the jail in Berkshire County.

This notice appeared among the advertisements, rather than integrated with news items, in several newspapers, including the July 3 edition of the New-London Gazette, the July 4 edition of the Providence Gazette, and the July 6 edition of the Newport Mercury.  Only Thomas Green and Samuel Green, printers of the Connecticut Journal and New-Haven Post-Boy, gave the notice a privileged place that suggested they considered it news as well as an advertisement.  They inserted the notice as the first item in the first column on the first page.  In combination with the headline, that increased the likelihood that readers would take note.  European news that arrived via ships from London and Bristol appeared immediately below.  In contrast, advertisements of various sorts surrounded the “STOP a MURDERER!” advertisement in other publications.  Still, the headline likely drew attention, especially considering that colonizers were accustomed to active reading as they navigated the dense text that filled eighteenth-century newspapers.

June 15

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

GUEST CURATOR: Joseph Vanacore

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Newport Mercury (June 15, 1772).

“A SLOOP of 84 tons, with all her stores.”

I found Abraham Barker’s advertisement in the June 15, 1772, issue of the Newport Mercury very interesting. The shipbuilding industry was extremely important to the colonies and played a significant role in the economy of the New England—in this case, Rhode Island specifically. Ships were essential to the survival of the colonies in countless ways. The shipbuilding industry was a lucrative portion of the economy, while simultaneously supporting the lumber industry. Ships were used for transportation of people and goods, fishing, communication, and naval and coastal defense, as well as many other purposes. With a strong shipbuilding tradition, the colonies were able to encourage and achieve a strong mercantile tradition.

Barker’s advertisement told of the robust shipping industry of Newport, Rhode Island, as well as the surrounding towns, including Tiverton. The ports of Rhode Island were a valuable location for colonial commerce as well as arriving merchants from Britain, providing a hub of trade for the region. According to historians at the John Carter Brown Library, Rhode Island also played a major in the transatlantic slave trade, for a time accounting for the home ports of approximately 20% of all slave trading ships in continental North America. Rhode Island’s well-suited harbors and prime location between the ports of Boston and New York allowed the colony’s shipping and shipbuilding industries to flourish.

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ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY: Carl Robert Keyes

There are many pedagogical benefits to inviting students in my courses to serve as guest curators for the Adverts 250 Project and the Slavery Adverts 250 Project.  They gain experience working with primary sources, pursuing independent research that incorporates both primary and secondary sources, identifying the significance of the advertisements they select, crafting an argument, writing, and revising.  Throughout the entire process, they understand that they do not have an audience of one, the professor, as is the case with most assignments, but instead are making contributions to a digital humanities project consulted by fellow students, scholars, and the general public.

I ask students to select their advertisements but not to conduct too much research until I approve those advertisements for inclusion in the project.  I wish to make sure that their advertisements fit within the general themes of the Adverts 250 Project.  I also steer students away from any advertisements I suspect will be too difficult to research.  In general, I recommend that these novice researchers choose advertisements that focus on a commodity or a service that helps to tell a story about commerce, politics, or everyday life in eighteenth-century America.

In previous semesters, students have often struggled when working with advertisements offering ships for sale, usually because they focused too much on the descriptions of particular ships.  As a result, I initially told Joe that I was not certain that Abraham Barker’s advertisement about a sloop for sale was the best choice for this project, but I was open to learning more about why he selected it and what he hoped to accomplish before rejecting it and instructing him to find another advertisement.  Joe then explained that he was not interested solely in this particular vessel but instead wanted to learn more about shipbuilding and shipping in New England, especially Rhode Island.  Even before he commenced his research, he had ideas about the bigger picture, the larger significance of this advertisement, rather than getting bogged down in the details in the notice.

After that conversation with Joe, I enthusiastically approved the advertisement.  I was even more pleased with the work Joe did for the Adverts 250 Project when he submitted a draft that incorporated Rhode Island’s prominence in the transatlantic slave trade, building on one of the central themes of a course that grappled with the tension between liberty and slavery during the era of the American Revolution.  I doubt that I would have selected Barker’s advertisement to feature today, which makes me all the more pleased with the entry inspired by it that Joe has crafted.  That underscored another aspect of students serving as guest curators that I especially enjoy.  We work together as colleagues rather than only as teacher and student.  Their ideas and contributions matter in our shared endeavor.

January 6

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Newport Mercury (January 6, 1772).

“Subscriptions are taken in by the Priner hereof, and a Number of Gentlemen in different Parts of the Country.”

In December 1771 and continuing into 1772, Solomon Southwick, printer of the Newport Mercury, ran subscription notices for “Col. Church’s HISTORY OF K. Philip’s Indian WAR, Which began in the Month of June, 1675.”  The project did not originate with Southwick; instead, he indicated “A Number of Gentlemen [were] desirous of having Reprinted” an account by Benjamin Church previously published in Boston in 1716.  Neither Southwick nor the “Number of Gentlemen” assumed the risk for publishing this new edition without first gauging broader interest in the book.

Such was the purpose of a subscription notice.  Subscribers reserved copies in advance, giving printers and publishers an idea of how many copies to print.  If they did not acquire a sufficient number of subscribers to make a project viable, they could abandon it rather than lose money on the venture.  In some cases, printers and publishers required subscribers to make payments in advance to help defray the costs of production, but in this instance Southwick specified that subscribers would pay three shilling “on Delivery of the Books.”  To entice prospective subscribers, especially booksellers and other retailers who might purchase multiple copies to sell, Southwick stated, “Those who subscribe for Six Books, to have a Seventh Gratis.”

Southwick accepted subscriptions, but he also relied on a network of associates to assist in the endeavor.  He informed readers that “a Number of Gentlemen in different Parts of the Country, to whom Subscription Papers have been sent,” also accepted orders for the book.  Those subscription papers included the proposal and conditions for subscribing as well as space for subscribers to sign their names and indicate how many copies they wanted.  Subsequent subscribers could peruse the list to see the company they kept, a factor that may have helped convince some potential subscribers that they indeed desired a copy … or at least desired seeing their names listed among those who supported the project.

Not all subscription proposals that ran in early American newspapers generated enough interest to proceed, but in this case Southwick garnered sufficient support to reprint The Entertaining History of King Philip’s War.  This edition included portraits of Benjamin Church and King Philip (Metacom, a Wampanoag leader) engraved by Paul Revere.  Southwick did not mention the images that would accompany the book as a means of promoting interest in the subscription notice.  Other subscription notices highlighted images, but perhaps Southwick had not yet made arrangements for that particular aspect of the publication.  Even without promising portraits of Church and Metacom, the subscription notices helped generate interest in the new edition.